partytracker.uk — a sourced record of what Britain's political parties say and do, party by party, with every entry linked to a primary source

Showing every spoken contribution, including 12,832 under 12 words. Hide short remarks

1. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   As I said earlier, I cannot comment on the intelligence situation of what happened with these two incidents, but we will of course learn lessons. What we knew in advance, and what was or was not done about that, will be a very important lesson for us to learn. As well as the intelligence that the local police are able to gather, we now have the national co-ordination of the NPCC, which has extra resources for things such as internet intelligence investigations. We can reach further and co-ordinate better than we could before, but I am sure there will be lessons to learn. I will take away my hon. Friend’s question about the uniform of political parties.

   Hansard source
2. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   As I have said, any lessons we need to learn from these cases will be learned. However, I know from conversations I have had that the police were dealing with an emerging problem in quite a difficult geographical area, particularly in Portsmouth, with one road going in and out. The police had a lot of vulnerable people—I am speculating about their physical health, because I have not yet had a full briefing, but I suspect they were having to deal with hypothermia and all kinds of issues—and they were having to deal with an increasing number of about 200 people protesting. They definitely had to use batons and other interventions, so that may not have been the right point at which to arrest those people, but there will be investigations, with CCTV. So I genuinely ask the hon. Member not to draw any conclusion from the fact that no arrests were made at that point, because there may well be arrests. The police have to do the right things at the right time and in the right order, and in that emerging difficult situation, they may have taken a decision to do those things for the safety of everyone there and to turn to investigations afterwards.

   Hansard source
3. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   Anyone who is whipping up this kind of activity and breeding racism is to be condemned. I notice that other Reform MPs are bobbing to ask their questions, so perhaps one of them could address the issue of the Reform member who wants—I am sorry, but I hate even to repeat the words—to see Nigerians melted down. Perhaps one of the hon. Members would like to respond.

   Hansard source
4. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   First, just to clarify, I do not think I said there was a lack of intelligence; I said I did not want to comment on the intelligence—there is a difference. In the case of Dover, the police had not been informed of the protest. That is not to say there was not intelligence that I cannot comment on or would not know about. I just want to be clear about that, as that is different. Of course, all crimes need to be punished. We need to ensure that people who commit vile sexual and violent offences go to prison or, if they are not from this country, are deported, and that is what we are doing. The number of foreign national offenders being sent home and the number of people who have been turned down for asylum and are being sent home are significantly up on when the Conservatives—the hon. Member’s previous party—were in power. We will continue to do that, but of course that is not to say that we are not intensely sympathetic and sorry for people who have been victims of awful crimes.

   Hansard source
5. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   There are of course very difficult issues of people who are fleeing war and conflict, and I say to the shadow Home Secretary and everyone else here that we in this country have an honourable tradition of being a place of safety, which must continue. The issue we have seen in recent years is that, when the Conservatives were in power, anybody who came in was not dealt with, was not turned around and was not returned. So the criminal gangs understood that when people come to this country, nothing happens and they get to stay here forever, regardless, and they make money from that vulnerability. So we are trying to improve the system, and improving the system is not a lack of compassion; it is exactly the opposite.

   Hansard source
6. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   There is absolutely nothing that the Government have said that would suggest we do not understand the level of anger about the state of the country in which the right hon. Gentleman left us, and we have a big job to do. We of course understand the level of anger, but this Government are doing the hard work of restoring control at our border and fairness in our migration system, and no rhetoric from the right hon. Member—who does not have a leg to stand on, given his own personal involvement in the situation we find ourselves in—is going to stop us.

   Hansard source
7. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   I thank the hon. Lady for the question, but I just disagree with her analysis. I think I have been very clear in calling out the racism we have seen. I have been very clear and straightforward in saying that, where criminal activity has occurred, the police should use the full force of the law. We have named far-right actors in this place today. If others do not do so, that is a matter for them, but thank goodness they are not in government currently. We will do everything we can. We can call out racism and call out the thuggery we have seen, while also accepting the anger that individuals feel about our borders, and the two are not incompatible.

   Hansard source
8. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   No one voted for it multiple times, when they elected a Conservative Government promising to stop the boats, which did not happen. The number of people coming over this year is down 43% on last year so far. That is real progress. Is it enough? No. Will we go further? Yes.

   Hansard source
9. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

   Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

   The proportion of people being granted asylum has shrunk massively in the last few years, and we have removed more than 80,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals from this country. We are improving the system and making the changes we need to make, and we will continue to do so.

   Hansard source
10. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

    Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

    It is not appropriate for me to comment on the intelligence and the situation, and who is or who is not going to be charged with these two incidents. We do not know enough at this point. The police are operationally independent for good reason and politicians should not be involved in that day-to-day process. Are we looking at the threats that we face in this country, of which there are many? Of course. Is the Home Secretary alive to all of those threats and doing everything she can with all the levers at her disposal? Absolutely.

    Hansard source
11. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

    Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

    On the one hand there is selective outrage, whataboutery, “let this sink in” and all the nonsense that people put on social media all the time. At the same time, there is a significant problem that we have to deal with. The two are true. We have to deal with the control at our borders, and we will bear down on that control to make sure we have what we need. At the same time, where there are malicious actors stirring up hatred and division, we have to—I would hope this House would—come together to promote the unity, solidarity and the compassion of which he speaks.

    Hansard source
12. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Edwards

    Hate Crime Law: Misogyny

    It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. I want to thank everybody who signed the petition, as a number of Members have thanked those in their constituencies who signed it; it is incredibly important that we hear from them in this manner. I thank my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for opening the debate and setting out so clearly the breadth of this issue and why it is so important. The Government’s landmark violence against women and girls strategy was published last December. It stressed a whole-of-society approach to prevention, in which all of us have a responsibility to call out harmful behaviours and to role-model positive behaviours. That responsibility cuts right across the public sphere: our shared spaces, our workplaces, our institutions and, of course, online. Online influencers hold a unique position in the public sphere, and their reach often goes further than that of our newspapers and broadcasters, yet their content is far less regulated. That is concerning given how social media platforms work: influencers profit financially from engagement, incentivising content that amplifies shocking images, awful videos and abuse, and that shapes the attitudes of impressionable young people. The platforms profit, too; they make huge sums of money from this. According to Government figures, in 2025, 95% of young people had heard of Andrew Tate. Ninety-five per cent—that is unbelievable. It gets worse, though, because 40% of the young men in that figure had a positive impression of this individual. This is somebody with allegations against him of sex trafficking and all manner of horrendous crimes. It is deeply concerning that the online sphere has given those young people the impression that this is a good thing and that this person is somebody to emulate or look up to. Exposure to content driven by that toxic masculinity starts very early, with 83% of teachers reporting concerns about their students holding extreme views on gender and a quarter reporting instances of misogynistic abuse in their own classrooms. I have heard from my teachers in Tamworth about how worried they are, how difficult this is to deal with, and how much the phones that many young people carry with them and have in the classroom are impacting their ability to see the world as many of us wish it really was, rather than as they are seeing it through this lens. This content is harming women and girls by normalising harmful rhetoric and behaviours, and it is harming boys by distorting their view of the world and their perception of what constitutes a healthy relationship with women and girls. As a female MP, I can attest to the sheer avalanche of abuse that I and many colleagues receive on a daily basis. Children are not born with misogynistic views; these views are learned through socialisation. Sadly, sometimes they come from parents, and sometimes from peers, but increasingly—and as we all fear—they come through exposure to the manosphere, which happens to a great extent online.

    Hansard source
13. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Edwards

    Hate Crime Law: Misogyny

    I absolutely agree, and I will go on to extol the virtues of what many people are calling for. It is imperative that there is real clarity on this, so that people take it more seriously than I think they do, and so that we are extremely clear about what is and is not accepted. There is this creep right across society whereby, as soon as you hear something online, it becomes okay, and therefore the more it is repeated. We really do have to make sure that the law reinforces that it is not okay and that we have to stop it happening. Many parents hope to instil in their children the values of a good society, but they cannot do that if they are constantly being undermined by all these posts and by individuals such as Andrew Tate. The law must recognise that disproportionate influence; if an individual or organisation profits from the engagement of a larger audience, they must fulfil a duty to that audience by making sure that their content is fully reflective of the law. I hope that when we change the law, content will have to change as a result. Classifying misogyny as a hate crime, as many Members might agree, would raise the degree of legal and social scrutiny of these influencers. To support that new framework, scrutiny must be proportionate to the size of somebody’s following, with influencers who have tens of thousands of followers given an enshrined duty of care for their audience. I advocate that even those with 500 or more followers are influential, and they need to recognise that. We need this to be supported by legislation that tackles online individuals and the way they communicate with their audiences. What I am suggesting would bring regulation of the new media more in line with that of traditional sources. Social media outlets must be held responsible for the algorithms they push and the weighting they give to the information they are ultimately distributing. More than 20 years ago, Ofcom was created in recognition of the power that our broadcasters had over the culture and norms of our country. In the 2020s, Parliament must bring forward a new framework fit for this new media landscape. I hope that the Minister has some good news about how we will be able to tackle these new outlets and platforms, where a huge number of people now get their so-called news. I also agree with the calls to make binding codes of practice rather than simple guidance. That is really important, and I hope that the Minister can outline some of the thinking behind and trajectory for that, as well as how we will scale up our efforts to protect women and girls from violence and hatred. I support calls for the Government to amend the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 to record crimes motivated by misogyny as hate crimes; to introduce tougher laws for online abuse—as I have already stated, that should apply to the individual and to the platform much more forcefully; and, as has been mentioned, to fund the training of police officers and prosecutors so that they are better able to handle this and understand their response. The future of our country depends on a much tougher stance being taken, particularly on this subject. I really fear for the future if we do not do this.

    Hansard source
14. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sally Jameson

    Regional Devolution: Funding

    We will be giving mayors greater flexibility to deploy funding within integrated settlements, and mayors will also retain a share of business rates in place of Government grants from April 2027. We will replace further grants from central Government with a share of local income tax from 2028.

    Hansard source
15. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sally Jameson

    Regional Devolution: Funding

    I know my hon. Friend has been campaigning on this issue. She will be pleased to know that we are committed to empowering mayors, giving them further levers to invest in their communities and their areas, including through retaining a share of income tax. Further details will be set out as part of the fiscal devolution road map at the Budget. The Bakerloo extension line will be a decision for the GLA and Transport for London, and I will continue to work with them to support their work and future projects.

    Hansard source
16. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sally Jameson

    Regional Devolution: Funding

    That is probably a question best directed to health oral questions. The Government are committed to working with all areas as part of our devolution road map to ensure that authorities and health providers can deal with the devolution we have planned. I would be happy to meet with the right hon. Gentleman to discuss that further.

    Hansard source
17. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sally Jameson

    Regional Devolution: Funding

    Following questions, the Secretary of State will be making a statement on that very issue, setting out what we will be doing in going further with local government reform and with mayors.

    Hansard source
18. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sally Jameson

    Regional Devolution: Funding

    Our ambition is to ensure that everywhere in England has or is in the process of establishing a strategic authority by the end of 2027, and that strategic authorities are in place everywhere by the end of 2028. It is right that we will not impose mayors on areas that do not want one, but we consider directly accountable mayors the strongest form of governance, which is why they have a different set of available powers and money. I would be happy to discuss that further with the hon. Lady. We will be setting out more information about our plans for devolution in the coming months.

    Hansard source
19. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Quigley

    Dover and Portsmouth: Protests

    I am sure that the Prime Minister will be glad to hear that the good weather is now attributable to a Labour Government. I pay tribute to the brave men and women of the RNLI who put themselves out to sea to save lives without fear or favour. The Isle of Wight salutes them all, unlike the masked bullies in Portsmouth. Lots of misinformation has happened over this weekend regarding the Isle of Wight. As we do not have the infrastructure, and cross-Solent transport is an issue for us, can the Minister confirm that there are no plans for an asylum centre on the Isle of Wight?

    Hansard source
20. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rebecca Long Bailey

    Economic Growth

    The Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s comments about regional growth and the active state are music to my ears, but rather than simply picking winners or de-risking private investment, how will she ensure that we get detailed local industrial strategies that build our domestic productive capacity and supply chains?

    Hansard source
21. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rachel Taylor

    Surrogacy Law and Legal Parenthood

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I give credit to all Members, who have participated in this difficult and sensitive debate in a thoughtful and constructive manner, and particularly to my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) for leading it. I thank Adam and Jamie for starting the petition and the more than 113,000 people who signed it. Many of my constituents asked me to attend the debate today, and I am proud to do so to stand up for families created through surrogacy. When Adam and Jamie’s daughter was born, they became her dads the moment they held her. They had chosen to become parents and had prepared for their daughter’s arrival. They had so much love to give her, but the law did not recognise them as her parents. Often parents have to go to court to prove that they are the parents of the child they are already loving and caring for. That is just not right for the parents, for the surrogates and, more importantly, for the children, and it does not reflect the reality of the families involved. It creates unnecessary stress and anguish at an already difficult time when people are raising a newborn child. To suggest that the concept of consent can be questioned after consent has been given is dangerous. No surrogate mother enters into this relationship lightly. It is something that women consider very carefully. I have spoken to friends who would happily be surrogate mums for other families to enable them to have children, because they enjoyed the experience of pregnancy. They would be happy to help in that way, but they would consent to that in the knowledge that they would not be that child’s mum. They would expect that child to have another mother, or mothers, or other fathers. That is the basis on which they give their consent. To take the concept of consent in legal arguments, when people make wills—they might be vulnerable people or, much of the time, elderly people—there are always questions about whether they were put under undue influence, but there are legal mechanisms to check that that was not the case. Similarly, there are mechanisms to check whether a woman has given consent for sexual intercourse. We need to strengthen checks for consent in surrogacy relationships, but we cannot have a situation where somebody can give consent, which has been adequately checked and monitored, and then withdraw it afterwards. We have to be careful about challenging that, because it goes to the very root of consent, and it is dangerous to do so.

    Hansard source
22. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rachel Taylor

    Surrogacy Law and Legal Parenthood

    I would like to make some progress, and the hon. Lady has made a number of points in her own speech and in other interventions. Same-sex couples, disabled mums or mums who simply cannot have children have gone through an incredibly demanding process to start a family, and their family is treated differently from the moment their child is born. They can be left in limbo for months while social workers carry out assessments and family courts, with already massively long delays, consider their application for a parental order. That leaves them in limbo if their child is ill, taken into hospital, starts nursery school, or any number of things. Meanwhile, they are changing nappies, comforting their baby through all the sleepless nights and making every decision about their care. Families should not be penalised because of the gender or sexuality of the people who love and raise that child. Our surrogacy laws are more than 40 years old. Families have changed and society has changed; the law must now change too. That is why the Law Commission’s proposals are so important. They set out a new pathway through which intended parents could be recognised as legal parents from birth, rather than waiting for months to obtain a parental order. The work has been done, the evidence has been gathered and a draft Bill has already been produced. Will the Minister listen to the families who have shared their experiences, publish the Government’s full response to the Law Commission’s report and set out a clear timetable for reform? Adam and Jamie became dads the moment they held their daughter. It is time the law recognised that reality.

    Hansard source
23. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rachel Taylor

    Local Government Reorganisation

    In North Warwickshire and Bedworth, our councils, businesses and voluntary organisations were all preparing for new unitary councils. They will be disappointed with the news, but we must get reorganisation right. Will the Secretary of State assure the councils struggling to recruit and retain high quality officers, the businesses wanting to invest and the voluntary organisations preparing to restructure, that the pause will not be an undue delay and that the towns and villages in my constituency will not be left behind without the investment that devolution will bring?

    Hansard source
24. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rachael Maskell

    Topical Questions

    Will the Minister meet me and the leader of City of York council? The fair funding formula is not working for our city because it does not use the lower-tier data with regard to the indices of deprivation, meaning that we are the worst-funded local authority. Can we have that meeting?

    Hansard source
25. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rachael Maskell

    Economic Growth

    Since 2020, Governments, Prime Ministers, Ministers, UK Research and Innovation and businesses have all supported the BioYorkshire project, which will address issues to do with the environment and the climate crisis, as well as providing good-quality jobs and a return for the Treasury. However, the Government have not been able to get money out of the door, so can the Minister say more about how she will invest and spend that money?

    Hansard source
26. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rachael Maskell

    Health Bill

    Will my hon. Friend give way?

    Hansard source
27. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Rachael Maskell

    Health Bill

    I have listened carefully to the debate. May I refer to my new clause 57? The challenge of the NHS is that so much significant, unaccountable power is being held that we, as Members of Parliament, cannot even deliver for our constituents. Will my hon. Friend look at her my new clause, and work with me to ensure that we get the Bill in the right place with regard to accountability before it goes to the Lords?

    Hansard source
28. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Phil Brickell

    Surrogacy Law and Legal Parenthood

    Two of my constituents recently travelled to Mexico, where their children were born by surrogacy. Those births were facilitated by a company called My Surrogacy Journey, which is listed on gov.uk. While in Mexico, they had repeated traumatic experiences with the company relating to issues including insurance for their children, accusations of bullying towards staff and repeated efforts to silence any constructive criticism. I understand that other Members of this House have received similar complaints. Given the severity of these matters, does my hon. Friend agree that the Government should take My Surrogacy Journey down from gov.uk pending a review by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority?

    Hansard source
29. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Peter Swallow

    Health Bill

    I agree with the point that the hon. Member is making. To add the voice of a member of the Education Select Committee, the Committee’s report equally found that we have to have a system where ICBs can be held to account for delivering on EHCPs.

    Hansard source
30. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Patrick Hurley

    Rough Sleeping

    16. What progress her Department has made on tackling rough sleeping and homelessness in Southport.

    Hansard source
31. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Patrick Hurley

    Rough Sleeping

    Light for Life, a homelessness charity in Southport, tells me that some of the rough sleepers with the most complex needs are precisely the people least able to navigate the bureaucracy associated with finding that roof over their head. Will the Minister consider creating a distinct pathway for entrenched rough sleepers, and allowing trusted local bodies to triage people directly and to get them into emergency accommodation, rather than expecting those with addiction issues, poor mental health and chaotic lives to navigate the bureaucracy before they can obtain help?

    Hansard source
32. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Olivia Bailey

    Hate Crime Law: Misogyny

    I thank my hon. and learned Friend for making an excellent speech, which I agree with wholeheartedly. Before he finishes, does he agree that it is also important for us to reflect on the intersectional nature of hate crime? Women will experience hate crime for lots of different reasons, including being a woman who is gay or a woman who is black, Asian or minority ethnic. Would he say a little about that and its importance?

    Hansard source
33. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Olivia Bailey

    Topical Questions

    T2.   My constituency is packed full of beautiful rural villages, but house prices are through the roof, and social housing stock is being sold off by housing associations such as the Sovereign Network Group. That is forcing my constituents out of the places where they grew up. I welcome the Government’s measures in the Social Housing Bill to protect rural social housing stock, but will my right hon. Friend consider strengthening the rules to protect against the sell-off of properties that could be housing local families in my community?

    Hansard source
34. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Noah Law

    Local Government Reorganisation

    The Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office set out their plans last week to rewire the state, and effective local government remains fundamental to that. Will the Secretary of State double down on her commitment to listening—as she did so well with us in Cornwall—to Members of this House, local councils and members of the public in this process?

    Hansard source
35. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Nesil Caliskan

    Economic Growth

    I thank the Minister for her statement and agree that London is indeed a powerhouse for growth. However, as a Member of Parliament for an outer London borough, I know, and she will recognise, that that wealth is not felt by every Londoner. With industrialisation and job creation being priorities for the Government, will the Minister reassure us that those priorities will reach the postcodes of my constituency?

    Hansard source
36. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Navendu Mishra

    Housing: Stockport

    8. What steps she is taking to help increase levels of housing stock in Stockport constituency.

    Hansard source
37. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Navendu Mishra

    Housing: Stockport

    I congratulate my good friend the Secretary of State and the Ministers on their appointments. As a fellow Stopfordian, she knows Stockport well. In Stockport, nearly 10,000 households are on the waiting list for housing, and Stockport council has spent more than £2 million on temporary hotel accommodation for people who have nowhere else to go. Stockport also has one of the highest levels of residential tower blocks in Great Manchester. Many residents are living in ageing high-rise homes, including those in Lancashire Hill in my constituency, and they are raising serious concerns with me about the condition of their housing and their flats. Will the Secretary of State set out how her Department will support councils not only to build new social homes in our communities, but to invest in and protect existing housing stock, so that everyone has a safe, decent home to go to?

    Hansard source
38. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Navendu Mishra

    Health Bill

    There is lots in this Bill that is very positive, but I want to raise a couple of local issues, including one relating to my local Stepping Hill hospital. I thank the Minister for meeting me and my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart), to discuss the hospital, because it is at the heart of healthcare provision in my town of Stockport. It serves around half a million patients per year and is one of the four specialist hub centres for emergency and higher-risk general surgery in Greater Manchester. I appreciate that 14 years of austerity, imposed by the coalition Government of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, and by subsequent Conservative Governments, have taken their toll on the NHS. The Labour Government have been trying to fix things over the last two years, but Stepping Hill hospital is a huge issue locally. I have mentioned the condition of the hospital a number of times in this Chamber, and a number of constituents frequently get in touch with me about the state of the hospital. At one point, Stepping Hill hospital was reported to be delivering only 51% of its usual outpatient services, which is simply not good enough. The staff do an amazing job, and an amazing set of volunteers support the hospital, but so much more needs to be done. The backlog of repairs at the hospital is estimated to cost around £138 million. The Government have allocated £2.5 million for targeted essential repairs, fire safety and other works, and the foundation trust has been allocated £75 million by this Government over the next four years. That is a positive step, but I urge the Minister to go a bit further for Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The second issue I want to raise is NHS-funded IVF treatment, which I have also mentioned previously. We live in a country where we have a postcode lottery in NHS funding for IVF treatment, and that should not be the case. I have signed new clause 104, tabled by the right hon. Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson), which is about ensuring that the provision of NHS-funded IVF is in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. Once again, a number of parents in my constituency have been in touch with me about this issue. Sadly, NHS Greater Manchester ICB has taken the step of reducing provision. It conducted a consultation a few months ago, and 74% of respondents either disagreed or completely disagreed with the proposed one-plus cycle offer. I have submitted a freedom of information request to NHS Greater Manchester ICB regarding the cost and resources that went into the consultation, because it did the consultation and then proceeded to reduce the provision. The change disproportionately impacts low-income women and people from poorer backgrounds, and that is simply not good enough. Greater Manchester has a population of almost 3 million people, and this is a regressive step. The Government need to do a lot better on mandating legal access to NHS-funded IVF. Current data from a fertility unit in the north-east—one of the only two areas where an ICB funds three full rounds of IVF treatment—shows that the chance of a woman under 40 having a baby after three cycles of treatment is 70%, but the figure for people who get access to one cycle is just 46%. In England, we need standardisation of IVF treatment. I also support new clause 108, tabled by my good and hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne). I will not say much on this point, because I have spoken on three separate occasions in Westminster Hall and in this Chamber about data hygiene and safety. I have had a very large volume of correspondence from constituents on this issue. Many people in Stockport are worried about foreign tech firms having access to their sensitive personal medical records. People need to have confidence that the personal details and data that they provide to the NHS will not be misused. As I said earlier, this Government have achieved a lot in the last two years, but we need to recognise that there is so much more to be done. Labour Governments always fix things in the long run, but I ask the Minister specifically to go a bit further on Stepping Hill hospital and IVF.

    Hansard source
39. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Naushabah Khan

    Local Government Reorganisation

    My constituents in Gillingham and Rainham want local government that works for them and delivers the services that they need. Could the Secretary of State provide some reassurance that while the review is taking place she will continue to look at local government funding and finances, and particularly at how councils such as mine—Medway council, which is in a non-mayoral area— are able to access investment and growth opportunities in the way that other devolved authorities are able to do?

    Hansard source
40. 7 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Ms Julie Minns

    Democratic Participation: Young People

    5. What steps her Department is taking to encourage greater participation by young people in democratic processes.

    Hansard source